Newsletter

FAA bird strike data shows hits at Augusta airport, little damage

A Federal Aviation Administration wildlife strike database published today revealed 129 wildlife strikes have taken place at Augusta's Bush Field since September of 1990.

None have resulted in human fatalities or injuries, and only 10 of the 129 produced even minor damage to aircraft.

Of the aircraft involved, 22 were military flights, 23 were Atlantic Southeast, 21 were Delta flights, three were US Airways flights and 27 were categorized as business flights.

Birds affected included a barn owl, three barn swallows, a bat, four blackbirds, ten european starlings, 13 sparrows, four swallows and a vulture. One fox was among those struck, part of the reason the database is called a wildlife strike database.

Diane Johnston, marketing director for Augusta Regional Airport, said the local government and the airport recognized the increased problem that bird strikes could cause in the 1990s, when wetlands were put in place near Bush Field.

Since then, airport officials have had seasonal problems with hundreds of thousands of black birds passing over the runways as part of the nesting and migratory patterns.

Ms. Johnston said the use of their bird chasing dog, Mayday, along with some pyrotechnics, have helped to minimize the problem. Officials from the utilities department have also helped by cutting the brush the black birds use for nesting each year.

"I feel like its been a joint effort between the city and the airport to keep us safe," Ms. Johnston said today.